Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - February 20th, 2026

14:56Carol Massar:It's a calling. Chase for Business knows how much heart and effort go into building something of your own. That's why they make business growth their priority. The Chase team takes the time to understand your mission, where you are now, and where you want to go. Their broad range of solutions is designed with you in mind so you can bring your ideas to life. From banking to payment acceptance to credit cards, you can conveniently manage all your business finances all in one place with their digital tools. Looking for tips and advice? Their online resources are always available to give you the solutions you need to help your business thrive.

15:31Carol Massar:See how your business can get stronger and go farther with Chase for Business. Learn more at chase.com slash business. Chase for Business. Make more of what's yours. The Chase mobile app is available for select mobile devices, Message and data rates may apply. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Member FDIC. Copyright 2026. JPMorgan Chase and Company.

15:53Tim Stenovec:This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily with Carol Masser and Tim Stenevec on Bloomberg Radio.

16:01Carol Massar:We've been focusing a lot on the case-shaped economy on Bloomberg Business Week Daily. Retail always gives a great look on this. Delinquency rates, for example, on loans ranging from mortgages to credit cards rose to 4.8 % of all outstanding U.S. household debt in the fourth quarter. That is the highest level since 2017, driven by higher defaults among low-income and young borrowers.

16:23Tim Stenovec:These data come as U.S. retail sales unexpectedly stalled in December, suggesting consumers provided less firepower for the economy as the year drew to a close. Dana Telsey is founder, CEO, and chief research officer of Telsey Advisory Group. She joined us to discuss all things retail. One caveat, we caught up with her before, Walmart reported results.

16:43Carol Massar:More broadly, like Tim said, we did kind of want to start a little bit broad with you. I mean, we got U.S. retail sales unexpectedly stalling in December, suggesting consumers provided less firepower for the economy as the year drew to a close. On that print, did your own analysis, Dana, you know, you do great channel checks and you have all your own research. Did it match up with what we saw? We saw a solid holiday season. We've seen four, four and a half percent. It was weaker after Black Friday to Christmas. It only picked up like the week before Christmas. The lull in the middle was deeper than expected.

17:21Carol Massar:Coming out of January to now, keep in mind, we've had terrible weather. You know better from the Northeast and the Midwest, people getting out pretty tough. And it was all about colder weather goods. So it's up and down, but I don't think anything is taking away from what we call the measured optimism in the consumer space. Whereas when you think about the events this year, Winter Olympics, America 250, World Cup, all coming up and tax refunds, which are just starting now, consumer has a lot of firepower to spend. And we're watching carefully the lower end. We just came out with our credit monitor this week.

17:56Carol Massar:The credit monitor, which shows delinquencies are still on the rise, bad debt being impacted. You have student loans out there. So it's still upticking, but not at a real accelerated pace. It's something to be mindful of.

18:08Tim Stenovec:When would you go from being mindful of it to being concerned about it?

18:12Carol Massar:If I heard about a slowdown in sales from all the different types of retailers, I mean, I think this year, could it be a discretionary year? We've had legacy companies like Victoria's Secret, like Urban Outfitters, like The Gap do better. Why? Because there's newness in product, newness in store designs, making it very compelling. So I'm watching some of these fails figures to see that are they able to maintain the expectations. What's gone more into the back burner, the waning impact of tariffs. Tariffs will be an impact for the first quarter, but they won't be as big an impact through the year.

18:45Carol Massar:And the continued focus on newness means companies are putting out newer products. You don't have a comparison. So the prices may be higher than they originally would have been. I want to go back to the consumer credit picture and delinquencies, because on the same day we got that retail sales report, we got delinquency rates on loans rising to 4.8 % of all outstanding U.S. household debt in the fourth quarter. That was the highest level since 2017. I hear something like that, and that's almost 10 years. It makes me be like, whoa, wait, is that impressive? I mean, is it impressive? Like, how do you make sense?

19:16Carol Massar:And I think they talked a lot about delinquencies in mortgage payments, particularly in lower income zip codes, student loan delinquencies. Like, that's a real factor. They are real factors. It's very important to watch. That's why let's see what these tax refunds come in because what will it be used for? Some of the debt pay down that's out there. But to be fair, like student loans, if you've got student debt, how much of you're going to get in a tax refund is really going to make a dent? It doesn't make as much a debt. But a lot of times, parents will pay off some of those student loans. So it depends who's doing those payments of the loans.

19:48Carol Massar:Okay.

19:49Tim Stenovec:What? I'm just thinking about the cost of education. How old are you?

19:53Carol Massar:By the time you go, it'll be a million dollars a year.

19:56Tim Stenovec:Just have the bots teach them.

19:57Carol Massar:Be a plumber, be an electrician. I'm just saying.

20:00Tim Stenovec:Hey, I want to talk a little bit about the Olympics that are going on right now and sort of what it means in a world where media is so fractured and you don't have the same appointment viewing that we had, the same idea of, you know, the big companies getting in front of everyone. We had Nike CEO on last week talking about a return to ACG and making a big push at the Olympics. How do you watch an event like the Olympics when it comes to retail?

20:21Carol Massar:I think when you think about retail and who, what brands are involved in the Olympics, I mean, Ralph Lauren, big time. You love it. You talk about Ralph Lauren a lot. Yeah. Well, you know why? Full price. If you look at the average unit retail selling prices, it's going up. You have a smaller brand who is doing good things with Olympics. This is their second Olympics they've been involved with. Figs is outfitting the Team USA medical team. And that's something that they're becoming known for. I think there is awareness that comes from being part of the Olympics. I think people are watching the Olympics, even though with some of the different time zones.

20:54Carol Massar:Winter Olympics, whether it's figure skating, whether it's the luge, you name it. And there's a lot of good USA athletes that have done a really good job.

21:02Tim Stenovec:Does it still move product?

21:03Carol Massar:Yes, it moves product and people want to be a part of it. Even just walk by store windows and you'll see product out there for the Olympics. So against all of this, you know, the SACS bankruptcy, I know it was expected. Eddie Bauer, been around for a long time. I feel like it's been twisting in the winds for a while. Store closings of Allbirds. I mean, I found my pair of Allbirds. I haven't been wearing them much. But I mean, Francesca is another one. Significant or it's just the cyclical nature. Cyclical wave. When you think about what others are doing out there, more stores are opening their own brands.

21:35Carol Massar:You have companies like Aritzia, who's gaining share only 72 stores in the United States. So if old doesn't reinvent, they're going away. And that's why I mentioned before, look at legacy that's reinventing. Urban Outfitters, Victoria's Secret and The Gap. What? No, it's fascinating to see because I agree with you that things are just going to change, right? It doesn't mean when we see a closing, it's going to be the end of retail. Well, the other thing, talking about the retail real estate landlords, Simon Property, largest mall developer in the country, just put out their results last week. And you can hear it from all the other landlords out there.

22:11Carol Massar:There is more demand for space than supply. So even with the 57 or so sacks off fifth closings, the eight or nine full line closings, there's demand for this space. Is it high end, though, that's always demand when it comes to malls or not necessarily? No, because you take a look at things like look at the off-pricers, the TJ Maxx, Ross Stores Burlington. They're each opening 100 stores a year. Restaurants are opening new stores. Look at the dollar stores, the Dollar Generals, Dollar Trees. They're also opening a lot of stores. We just did a story about how they're opening increasingly in wealthier areas.

22:43Carol Massar:And because the wealthier or higher income individuals are shopping at these stores. People like treasure hunts. And that's what this gives them.

22:52Tim Stenovec:Okay, we're going all over.

22:53Carol Massar:I thought you were going to go to the ultimate treasure hunt.

22:56Tim Stenovec:No.

22:56Carol Massar:Which you know I love. But you go ahead. No, we're not doing that yet.

22:58Tim Stenovec:You mentioned Gap. So I want to go back to Gap. And I'm now hearing from like, truly from influencers that Gap and you, I think you came in and told us that Gap is back. It's cool. What has Gap done and been able to do in recent years to sort of like, you know, it'll never, I'll never say never, but the 90s for Gap were unbelievable.

23:17Carol Massar:So now it's the parents and the kids they attracted and the reason why. How brands are getting recognized today. Look at how viral things can go with influencers, brand ambassadors. You look at Instagram. The regular person is now your new celebrity who you want to look like them. What Gap's done, their creative director of Zach Posen partnered with Richard Dixon, the CFO. They blended product and marketing, and what did it give them? Awareness. They did that with whether it's K-pop music stars all of a sudden. You're doing that with different brands out there that they're making special collections for Gap.

23:54Carol Massar:And they're also updating the stores. Check out the store on 21st and 5th Avenue, which has the new Look Gap. It doesn't look like the old Look Gap. So where is retail going? Like, you know, I always think it's kind of wild. You go into a czar and you can check out yourself. And like, you know, and part of me kind of likes that. You know, I can just do it. But where is retail going in terms of trends, in terms of technology, in terms of the experience? I think overall where retail is going, it's where you want it to go. I think the personalized nature of retail because of the data that companies have about your preferences.

24:26Carol Massar:I think the AI learnings that are being put in place as to when you shop, what price you shop, what style you shop. And I think the marketing appeal of what's on Instagram, what's your favorites, and what is celebrities' favorites or who the new celebrities are, they become your favorites. I think it's moving faster than ever. It's made the supply chain of retailers become more embedded in being able to chase. and I think overall, you look at old brands becoming new again, walk across the street to Bloomingdale's, there's more new brands than they've had in years. I was just talking about that with a friend of mine who's just like, we talked about the transformation of Bloomingdale's against Saks, which is obviously struggling.

25:09Carol Massar:One thing I want to ask you, Amazon, like I have noticed in stories and different things how aggressive they are in terms of fashion. Is that becoming a big deal for them? Not as big a deal yet. They're still essentials. But what you are seeing is brands want their own Amazon shops on Amazon. Basically, what brands want today is they want where is the customer so they can interact. Even though Amazon might copy what's popular, they have so much data on where people are buying. Why do people buy Levi's jeans or buy Calvin Klein jeans or whatever? People want the brand and the fit. So they'll always be private label, but brands provide the halo.

25:48Tim Stenovec:Can we talk big picture a little bit with a company like Lululemon, for example? Going through a CEO transition, you have Chip Wilson out there saying, I have good ideas for this company. You have some product failures that our Bloomberg News team has reported on with this idea of some of the leggings being see-through. Is that brand on the outs?

26:11Carol Massar:The brand, obviously, if you're not going to have a product that people want, that's a problem. But overall, you can't say it's on the outs because look at the amount of volume that it does with over$10 billion in sales. You look at the other activewear brands and they're not doing nearly that volume. And there's work that needs to be done to reinvent. I always call it to be at the top of a retail roller coaster. You need to reinvent, re-merchandise, or rejuvenate. Time for Lulu to do that. And I was just out there recently. New product is coming for this spring. Let's see how it does. So what about, okay, so Walmart's the big focus this week in terms of earnings.

26:46Carol Massar:Next week we get Home Depot, TJX. Week after we get Target, Costco, Macy's, and a whole host of others throughout the next couple of weeks here. TJX, again, like I know this is.

26:56Tim Stenovec:Here we go.

26:57Carol Massar:I like the treasure hunt. What did I tell you? They should be a barn burner. The other thing that's new for them, they're increasing their spend on marketing. And as they've been increasing their marketing spend, they're seeing more traffic in the stores. So look what we talked about with Gap, marketing and product. Look what you got with TJ going on. No one would have ever thought that marketing would be as big a deal for them. It's turning into revenues. And let's not forget the other thing TJ has. They have HomeGoods. HomeGoods is doing amazing. They have the most diversification of product assortment.

27:28Carol Massar:I think 2026 looks to be a very good year for TJ. What's so interesting, though, they don't really have an online presence. No. It's just fascinating that they really don't. You've got to go to the store. You have to go to this store.

27:40Tim Stenovec:But that's part of, because you can't really like find out what, you know. You can't do the treasure hunt. They love it.

27:45Carol Massar:Yeah. And your very loyal customers will be there on Tuesdays and Fridays. They know when the new merchandise comes in. And frankly, having off price only gives iconic heritage to the full price merchandise. Because you know you're getting a deal on some of these brands. And look at the brands TJ has. They're better late.

28:03Tim Stenovec:That was Dana Telsey, founder, CEO, and chief research officer of Telsey Advisory Group. for the full conversation, because we did talk everything from Amazon and Bloomingdale's to Nike, TJX, Carol's favorite, Walmart, and more. Check out our podcast feed. What's not to love? You love it.

28:19Carol Massar:I do. It's all about the hunt.

28:21Tim Stenovec:It's old school. You know, you don't really find those deals online.

28:24Carol Massar:I know. It's just kind of fun. It's kind of a, they talk about retail therapy, I'm just going to say. All right, still ahead on Bloomberg Businessweek, how executives have worked to stay out of the fray of public political commentary.

28:36Tim Stenovec:This is Bloomberg.

28:38Carol Massar:Support for the show comes from Public. Lately, it feels like there are two types of investing platforms. Some are traditional brokerages that haven't changed much in decades, and others feel less like investing and more like a game. Public is positioned differently. It's an investing platform for people who are serious about building their wealth. On Public, you can build a portfolio of stocks, options, bonds, crypto, without all the bugs or the confetti. Retirement accounts? Yep. High-yield cash? Yes, again. They even have direct indexing. Public has modern design, powerful tools, and customer support that actually helps.

29:14Carol Massar:Go to public.com slash market and earn an uncapped 1 % bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com slash market. Add paid for by Public Holdings. Brokered services by Public Investing, member FINRA SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, SEC Registered Advisor. Crypto services by ZeroHash. All investing involves risk of loss. See complete disclosures at public.com slash disclosures. Being a small business owner isn't just a career. It's a calling. Chase for Business knows how much heart and effort go into building something of your own. That's why they make business growth their priority.

29:48Carol Massar:The Chase team takes the time to understand your mission, where you are now, and where you want to go. Their broad range of solutions is designed with you in mind so you can bring your ideas to life. From banking to payment acceptance to credit cards, you can conveniently manage all your business finances all in one place with their digital tools. Looking for tips and advice? Their online resources are always available to give you the solutions you need to help your business thrive. See how your business can get stronger and go farther with Chase for Business. Learn more at chase.com slash business.

30:22Carol Massar:Chase for Business. Make more of what's yours. The Chase mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Member FDIC. Copyright 2026. JPMorgan Chase and Company.

30:36Tim Stenovec:Deadlines move. Plans change. And sometimes opportunities pop up out of nowhere. When you need branded gear fast, 4imprint is ready to deliver. 4imprint offers hundreds of promotional products in their 24-hour category. Everything from custom apparel, bags, and drinkware to writing tools, trade show staples, and high-tech gear. At 4imprint, they're focused on getting the details right, printing your logo with precision, packing your order with care, and shipping it out fast. And it's backed by their 360-degree guarantee. That's 4imprint's promise your order will show up right on time, just the way you planned it.

31:12Tim Stenovec:That's what it means to be 4imprint certain. So, if you're prepping for a last-minute event or jumping on a big opportunity, you don't have to settle or scramble. With 4imprint, fast, reliable service, and peace of mind are built right in. Check out their full 24-hour selection at 4imprint.com. 4imprint, 4certain. This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily with Carol Masser and Tim Stenevek on Bloomberg Radio.

31:41Carol Massar:Once President Trump was inaugurated in 2025, it became clear that corporations would have to please not just their shareholders, but also his administration, lest they be targeted for lawsuits or regulatory reprisals or by the rage of the MAGA movement at large.

31:58Tim Stenovec:Just think back to that inauguration and who was there from the business world. As Bloomberg Businessweek's Amanda Moll writes, quote, the Trump administration's actions on a whole host of issues, but especially its brutal treatment of suspected immigrants, have the general public looking for prominent people and institutions to use their power or influence like they did just a few years ago.

32:18Carol Massar:She adds, this time, though, the country has been met with near total silence and has been left to speculate about why. We got more from Amanda and the era of the good corporate citizen.

32:29Tim Stenovec:If we think back to just a few years ago, the pride floats, diversity and training initiatives, the ESG stuff, investing, hiring. That was that was kind of a blip I learned from your story in the history of of the role of a corporation in life. That's not really what corporations have done in American history. Right. It's easy to have a bit of recency bias about how corporations act relative to society. But when you look at the long sweep of corporate history, and I talked to an economic historian about this for the column, companies generally try to advance their own interests, which sounds obvious to say, but it can be hard to remember that because companies have gotten and have worked to have a louder and louder voice in culture, in politics, in like all these areas of our lives that are not like so centrally focused on their own businesses, whatever that business might be, depending on the company.

33:31Tim Stenovec:So, you know, before relatively recently, companies just sort of sought to stay out of politics in general because it was bad for business, but to quietly, privately sort of advance their own interests politically in, you know, through lobbying and all the ways that we're used to.

33:47Carol Massar:So it's kind of like, you know, it's funny. They're all your tech executives.

33:51Tim Stenovec:But I think about the Gilded Age, right?

33:53Carol Massar:And the robber barons and so on and so forth. And I think we have this romantic notion of the company town and the executives taking care of everybody. And I'm sure that was the case in some places. But I think maybe we are being a little bit naive about how it used to be or no. Well, the robber barons are actually an interesting case

34:12Tim Stenovec:because this is where a lot of these sort of battles were worked out. Because during the time of the robber barons, you also had the rise of the labor movement. You had really active, really powerful, really militant unions in the United States. So the robber barons not only, you know, adopted the 40-hour work week and things like that in response to fight from labor, but they also did things like establish libraries and museums and do all of these, you know, get into the creation of the public good in order to sort of burnish their reputations because there was like an active, organized counterpart that was trying to reveal them to be something other than, you know, entirely pro-social.

34:57Tim Stenovec:So they did this thing because of public, all of those things because of public outcry.

35:01Carol Massar:Well, it's interesting because I think, you know, some folks would say some of these billionaires and successful, you know, executives, They certainly donate. They do philanthropy, and they're doing good things for society. I think, though, and I want to get into your story, and we started talking before we even went on air. It's just this idea of go to Minneapolis, and what is it that finally gets executives to kind of band together? Is it the first death or shooting by ICE agents? Is it the second one? Is it the third one? It's just like what's the bar for making people react? And even when the reactions happen, it's maybe not as strong as we think it should be.

35:41Tim Stenovec:Right. Historically, we see a pretty high bar for companies to weigh in on politics. Like one of the classic examples is that during World War II, American companies were pretty happy to do business with both sides of the war until Pearl Harbor. And then it was, you know, our interests are with the allies. and then it was all hands on deck for the American side of the war because there was an American side of the war at that point. And you also saw this during the civil rights movement that companies sort of stayed quiet on this until TV coverage of police brutality in the South was so horrific and the country was so horrified that they couldn't sit on the sidelines anymore.

36:21Tim Stenovec:So you have that sort of happening again now, but people in roles of corporate influence are even more shy than they were, I think, in those eras to weigh in on either side. Because we had two videotaped killings that, you know, everybody in the country probably saw as part of, at least. And only then did we get like a very tepid statement from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce with 60 local companies signing on to it. We didn't have like, we haven't had much national conversation from people of enormous influence in the business community about any of this.

37:00Carol Massar:Like you think about Davos, right? Everybody was gathered there. Like there's a place, but I don't know that there was like things that came out.

37:07Tim Stenovec:Not about this.

37:08Carol Massar:No.

37:09Tim Stenovec:Not at all. You know, you mentioned you talk about World War II, the civil rights movement. You also write about apartheid and what happened with the jailing of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. After all of those historical events, you have something in the U.S. in 2010 happened, Citizens United versus the Federal Election Commission. Talk about what that does and that Supreme Court case does to change the role of a corporation as a citizen. Right. So what we see both historically and right now is corporations sort of trying to, you know, wiggle out of this mess by saying we're not political. We don't have a role in politics.

37:44Tim Stenovec:We are here to serve our customers, to run our business profitably for our shareholders. And that is that is it. But in 2010, you have the Citizens United decision. And this was like the sort of culmination of a genuine 40-year process in which, you know, corporate America decided they wanted a more active role in democracy. They wanted a more active role in politics. This started in 1971 with the Powell Memo, and the author of that memo became a Supreme Court justice just a few years later. So you have this process of the sort of like pro-business arguments being put into academia, into the intelligentsia, and pro-business judges being put on courts.

38:33Tim Stenovec:And that leads to this decision where it is now pretty easy for corporations to fund in a pretty limitless way political candidates. So corporations have a really loud voice in our politics, whether or not we always realize it. And so which I think makes it extra notable that they're being quiet right now.

38:53Carol Massar:So I love the title. So President Trump is called Bluff on the Era of Good Corporate Citizen. The president has exposed an ugly truth about corporations. They're no longer even pretending to be good citizens. So it's an important point. Like it's like peel back or pull back the curtain. Right. Right. Of not being political, yet there is so much money in politics. And we often talk about this, that who's really represented when you go to Washington? Is it the corporations who have very, very deep pockets and have this ability to certainly get the attention of lawmakers? One of the other things I want to bring up, though, is something I think about a lot, is the fiduciary responsibility, though, of a leader to not get in the crosshairs of the president.

39:33Tim Stenovec:I was thinking of your comments about this as soon as, you know, when Amanda was talking earlier. Because you said, as Carol often alludes to, is there any upside to actually weighing in here as a CEO?

39:44Carol Massar:Right, right. You've got this to protect your company and take actions that are in the best interests and protecting your shareholders and investors.

39:50Tim Stenovec:And doing what somebody thinks is, quote, the right thing to do is not a metric that Wall Street judges the performance of a company on. Right, yeah. I think that right now you have a lot of executives looking at the situation, both political and sort of social in the country, and going, do we have more of a do I as a person even have more of a responsibility to my company shareholders or do I have more of a responsibility to society as someone with influence right and you know I think one thing that is different about now than about 2020 is that uh the Trump administration is willing to use the levers of power in order to um cajole or punish uh businesses that do or do not do things that the administration prefers.

40:34Tim Stenovec:I think some, you know, some executives are probably just straightforward Trump supporters, and they don't speak out because they like the administration's policies. Some probably don't like the administration's policies and don't speak out because they're afraid of reprisal. And if, you know, the government acts in such a way that it harms their company, then like, they probably haven't done their job, as they understand it according to their contract because their, you know, ultimate responsibility in their role is to their shareholders. So if they're doing things that they know could get them punished, then I think that that is the particular calculus that a lot of executives are doing right now.

41:14Carol Massar:You know, I'm just thinking if someone's listening, we're running out of time, but it's like, oh, you know, I can just see the emails or whether we're being political and so forth. But why is this, before we wrap up 40 seconds, important to point out? And is it that companies spend a lot of money in lobbying? What is your big takeaway, you think, here?

41:35Tim Stenovec:Well, I think that it's important to understand companies as institutions of power and influence in American society. Business journalism is interesting and is worthwhile because these companies are important in the country. and discussing them like they're important means being serious about like the types of influence they wield even if it's political influence that's amanda ball senior reporter for bloomberg

42:02Carol Massar:business week i have to say tim you know and we talked about this with um amanda i think because we've we've had guests on we've had leaders on we've had consulting firms that advise you know sweet leadership about why everybody's so quiet. And I think it largely has to do with nobody wants to be on the president's radar, right? And all of a sudden come up in a social media post or a comment out of the Oval Office. And I kind of get it. If you're a publicly held company, you do have a fiduciary responsibility to think about what's best for your company, what's best for investors. But it still feels a little uncomfortable.

42:40Tim Stenovec:You know, I'm going to out myself as, you know, watching some other shows on the on the television. But it reminds me of an interview that I saw Chris Christie give last week, maybe or the week before he was on the Bill Maher show on HBO. And he talked about other Republican politicians because Chris Christie has been outspoken about President Trump. And Chris Christie is not in office right now, former governor of New Jersey, your former governor. He but he said that privately he hears from Republicans in the green room when he goes on TV and he says they say stuff to him that is very different than what they go and say publicly.

43:24Carol Massar:All right, folks, that wraps up the first hour of the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. Coming up in our next hour, Bad Bunny's halftime show at the Super Bowl, translating into business for one company that might actually surprise you.

43:37Tim Stenovec:Also, from a Ritz-Carlton reserve in Saudi Arabia to the world's first and only five-star cruise, we've got the Forbes Travel Guide 2026 Star Award.

43:47Carol Massar:Also, Monster Jam, Disney on Ice, and so much more. And so we get a good read into how families are actually spending their free time.

43:56Tim Stenovec:And maybe their discretionary income. Yes, that's a good point. It's Bloomberg Businessweek. That's Carol Messer. I'm Tim Stenebeck. Stay with us. Today's top stories and global business headlines are coming up right now.

44:18Carol Massar:Support for the show comes from Public. Lately, it feels like there are two types of investing platforms. Some are traditional brokerages that haven't changed much in decades, and others feel less like investing and more like a game. Public is positioned differently. It's an investing platform for people who are serious about building their wealth. On Public, you can build a portfolio of stocks, options, bonds, crypto, without all the bugs or the confetti. Retirement accounts? Yep. High-yield cash? Yes, again. They even have direct indexing. Public has modern design, powerful tools, and customer support that actually helps.

44:53Carol Massar:Go to public.com slash market and earn an uncapped 1 % bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com slash market. Add paid for by Public Holdings. Brokered services by Public Investing, member FINRA SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, SEC Registered Advisor. Crypto services by ZeroHash. All investing involves risk of loss. See complete disclosures at public.com slash disclosures. Being a small business owner isn't just a career. It's a calling. Chase for Business knows how much heart and effort go into building something of your own. That's why they make business growth their priority.

45:28Carol Massar:The Chase team takes the time to understand your mission, where you are now, and where you want to go. Their broad range of solutions is designed with you in mind so you can bring your ideas to life. From banking to payment acceptance to credit cards, you can conveniently manage all your business finances all in one place with their digital tools. Looking for tips and advice? Their online resources are always available to give you the solutions you need to help your business thrive. See how your business can get stronger and go farther with Chase for Business. Learn more at chase.com slash business.

46:01Carol Massar:Chase for Business. Make more of what's yours. The Chase mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Member FDIC. Copyright 2026. JPMorgan Chase and Company.

46:16Tim Stenovec:Deadlines move. Plans change. And sometimes opportunities pop up out of nowhere. When you need branded gear fast, 4imprint is ready to deliver. 4imprint offers hundreds of promotional products in their 24-hour category. Everything from custom apparel, bags, and drinkware to writing tools, trade show staples, and high-tech gear. At 4imprint, they're focused on getting the details right, printing your logo with precision, packing your order with care, and shipping it out fast. And it's backed by their 360-degree guarantee. That's 4imprint's promise your order will show up right on time, just the way you planned it.

46:52Tim Stenovec:That's what it means to be 4imprint certain. So, if you're prepping for a last-minute event or jumping on a big opportunity, you don't have to settle or scramble. With 4imprint, fast, reliable service and peace of mind are built right in. Check out their full 24-hour selection at 4imprint.com. 4imprint, for certain. This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily, reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping today's complex economy, plus global business, finance, and tech news as it happens. Bloomberg Business Week Daily with Carol Masser and Tim Stenevek on Bloomberg Radio.

47:36Carol Massar:Plenty ahead in our second hour of the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week, including a look at online education, how Coursera and Babel are making the grade when it comes to customers and expansion.

47:47Tim Stenovec:Plus, the family-owned company behind the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, Monster Jam, Disney on Ice, and how families are spending and using discretionary funds and discretionary time.

47:58Carol Massar:I got to tell you, I got a little nephew. It's actually my niece's son. So I don't know what you call a grandnephew, but really into those monster jams. Oh, yeah. The monster trucks and stuff and has gone with my brother, his grandfather. How did they get you?

48:13Tim Stenovec:Oh, what? Earplugs. I know. Selling the earplugs because it's so loud.

48:18Carol Massar:Sounds like someone who's been there.

48:19Tim Stenovec:Yeah, didn't bring earplugs, but we bought some. Also, some of the world's finest hotels and the only five-star cruise. as we talk to the woman behind standards and ratings for the Forbes travel guide.

48:29Carol Massar:First up this hour.

48:35Tim Stenovec:Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance not only turned heads for the music, dancing, and costumes, but also for pushing people to learn Spanish. We caught up with Julie Hanson, chief revenue officer and U.S. CEO of Babbel, on the surge her company saw after the halftime show.

48:50Carol Massar:Normally we have about 62 % of our daily signups are people learning Spanish. During the Super Bowl, almost 85 % during that halftime show. Wow. Overall signups were up just about 4x. Downloads up 3x. Oh, my God. And, you know, it actually is sustaining. Excuse me. So, like, Spanish remains by far, it's over at, like, 78 % signups still. So it's really having a phenomenal effect way beyond. We knew it would be big. We had no idea it would be like this.

49:24Tim Stenovec:In the past, have big cultural events sparked signups such as this? Or is this unprecedented in the history of Babel? Yes, but nothing quite like this, especially in the U.S.

49:38Carol Massar:Just so instantaneous and so significant.

49:43Tim Stenovec:What's the staying power, though? I mean, we all know what it's like to have New Year's resolutions and say, I'm going to do this, I'm going to learn this new language, and then you kind of fall off a cliff after a few weeks.

49:53Carol Massar:for sure we will see the thing I like our odds though because two factors together here one just the growth of Spanish language in music and culture is really sustained and also again significant so that's kind of creating this ongoing interest in the topic and two the early year cohort I mean January in particular but we're almost in January that is by far the strongest cohort there is something about that beginning of the year, New Year's resolution, new you. This is the best, most engaged group of users that we sign up all year, like 20 % more engagement than in other months. So if they can keep that February intensity, the January intensity, and the February, you know, interest from Bad Bunny, it's a pretty good combination.

50:41Carol Massar:Yeah, how do you gauge? Like, is there a way when somebody signs up? How can you or is it just we'll see how long they stick with it? I mean, the proof is in that pudding for sure. But we do see signs when they sign up. I mean, when people tell us what their motivation is, and also they'll tell us how much they think they're willing to, how much time they're willing to invest. And that's an important topic to us because we're, you know, the point of Babbel is we want to actually teach the language. So we really try to respect people's time. And we want the time with Babbel to be time

51:14Tim Stenovec:well spent. So we pay attention to that particular metric. But interestingly, in January, we saw that

51:20Carol Massar:travel was the number one motivation by far. 43 % of our January signups cited travel as their reason. And that's up like 17 % year over year. What languages in particular? Spanish and English. And, you know, following that is French, Italian, German. We teach 14 languages, but those are your top five, top four. You know, it's, yeah, it's kind of fascinating. Does it also just say to you that more consumers are traveling? Like I'm just crying, you know, we're always trying to figure out what consumers are up to in an economy where not everybody benefits equally. Is there a read for you on the U.S.

51:59Carol Massar:consumer based on, you know, that they want to learn more languages because they're traveling more? Or I'm just curious, what are you seeing? Are we just cold and we want to go somewhere warm given this winter. On the U.S. side, we still see the travel as a strong motivator, but actually for the U.S. side, it can be even a stronger motivator to connect with friends and family. And again, as Spanish grows in the country, that becomes even a more important impact. But it is interesting to see the worldwide surge in travel interest that we're seeing in our data. I'm not sure I knew that was coming because travel has been on the upswing for several years now.

52:40Tim Stenovec:Yeah. Well, you said you didn't necessarily know if that was coming. A lot of investors seem like they didn't know that the AI revolution was coming as quickly as it has. T-Mobile launched real-time AI services on its wireless network, including live translation during phone calls for over 50 languages. Are we entering a world where technology will allow us to just speak our own languages and we will not need to learn other languages? I know that's a crazy thing for me to ask, but this is the world we live in.

53:10Carol Massar:Well, we agree that AI translation is real, it's powerful, it's very useful. But it only solves immediate communication needs. And by the way, it does so with a lag, which is not the most fluid way to connect to someone or converse. So we think that an LLM can translate any conversation, but it can't give you the joy of understanding a joke. in another language or the feeling of truly belonging in another culture. Translation solves the moment. Learning transforms the person.

53:45Tim Stenovec:So we think that, you know, learning a language is here to stay as long as people have languages. That was Julie Hanson, Chief Revenue Officer and U.S. CEO of Babbel. Languages are just one aspect of the online learning ecosystem. There's also the software used by colleges and hubs for testing practical and professional educational preparedness.

54:04Carol Massar:Two of those platforms, Coursera and Udemy, announced plans for an all-stock merger at the end of 2025. Now they're working on integrating the two companies together. We caught up with Greg Hart, president and CEO of Coursera in San Francisco.

54:17Tim Stenovec:Greg, I want to start with the merger. Carol mentioned it in December, an all-stock merger between Coursera and Udemy. What is the status of that right now? We understand it's going to close in the second part of the year. The integration, how does it go? What does it mean in terms of the customer and user experience? And who's the boss? Thank you, Tim, for the question. So we are going through the regulatory approval process right now. Nothing to share on that front, but we're moving through the paces. And then we'll hope to move through that and then go through shareholder approval. In terms of who's the boss, first of all, the customer is always the boss.

54:58Tim Stenovec:In terms of the actual governance of the company, I will be the CEO of the combined company. And we are excited about that combination because of the opportunity to bring together two businesses that are really quite complementary. Udemy, the companies are roughly the same size in revenue. So the combined revenue of the companies would be about$1.5 billion for 2025 with about 10 % adjusted EBITDA margins free synergies. We also announced at signing that we would deliver$115 million of synergies post-close within the first two years. And so a nice improvement in the operating margin that we have as a combined company.

55:41Tim Stenovec:We are focused, as we go through the planning process, on exactly what that integrated company and platform will look like. So how do we think about pricing and packaging and promotions? Of course, how do we think about the leadership team? And then how do we bring the companies together to really drive not only better margins through the synergies, but also really over time drive much higher revenue growth and do a better job of addressing the massive market opportunity in front of the companies? Greg, there have been many examples of mergers that have been announced that haven't actually gone through for a whole multitude of reasons.

56:17Tim Stenovec:Some of them have been regulatory. Some of them have involved other factors. What happens if this doesn't go through? Well, I'm very confident that it will. I mean, we operate in the education space, which is a massive space, you know,$2 trillion plus that encompasses physical education. So day through 12, universities, vocational schools, it encompasses the online sector that we happen to be a part of and Udemy also is a part of. And then, of course, it encompasses all the other ways that people learn today. And increasingly, that is through things like LLMs or YouTube or TikTok. We believe we have a very differentiated offering, but we are a very, very small player within that massive space.

57:02Tim Stenovec:And we believe that the combination actually delivers more value to every one of our constituents, to our learners. they'll get access to more content, not only the 375 different university and industry partners that Coursera has, but the 85 ,000 plus subject matter experts that Udemy's content creator community has. And so it'll bring more choice, more learning opportunity. It'll be better for our content creators because they'll have access to a worldwide learner audience that's approaching 300 million registered learners across the two companies. And it's better for our enterprise customers because we're able to deliver them the breadth of that content coming from that content creator network across Udemy and Coursera.

57:49Carol Massar:Hey, listen, one of the things, well, first of all, I have to just follow up on the deal, the combination with you and Udemy. Is it still, though, you said you're pretty confident about regulatory, Greg, so maybe still on track to close this deal in the second part of 2026?

58:03Tim Stenovec:Yes, we've heard nothing that would change our belief that it will close by the second half of 2026 and remain confident in getting all the regulatory approvals we need to do so.

58:14Carol Massar:One of the things I thought is interesting, I always think about your business. You mentioned university, industry partners. You've got these subject experts. How are people most using it? Is it your corporate partnerships where people want retraining for their employees? Is it people on their own? Is it people who are just interested about different topics? Like, tell us where the growth is. Is it all of it or certain parts of it?

58:36Tim Stenovec:Fantastic question, Carl. So our business as Coursera, an independent company, we are two-thirds consumer, one-third enterprise. From a revenue perspective, Udemy is the inverse. They are two-thirds enterprise, one-third consumer. For both companies, there is a huge focus on and growth in technology and specifically AI right now. And so for Coursera, last year, we saw enrollments in Gen AI-related content at a rate of 15 enrollments per minute. In 2024, that was only eight enrollments per minute. And so a real burgeoning interest that I believe will continue in 2026 as well. And we are really focused on delivering not just learning, but delivering skills so that people can advance their careers.

59:25Tim Stenovec:86 % of the learners who come to Coursera come here to advance their careers. And so we are very focused on delivering them skills that they can use to advance their careers and that they can demonstrate, you know, real mastery of as they are in the workforce.

59:43Carol Massar:Hey, Greg, really quickly, 30 seconds.

59:45Tim Stenovec:That was Greg Hart, president and CEO of Coursera.

59:48Carol Massar:You're listening to Bloomberg Businessweek. Coming up, we hear from the CEO of the company behind some of the biggest live events in the world. In fact, behind the greatest show on earth.

59:57Tim Stenovec:Think Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, Monster Jam, and Disney on Ice. This is Bluebird.

1:00:04Carol Massar:Support for the show comes from Public. Public is an investing platform that offers access to stocks, options, bonds, and crypto. And they've also integrated AI with tools that can assist investors in building customized portfolios. One of these tools is called Generated Assets. It allows you to turn your ideas into investable indexes. So let's say you're interested in something specific like biotech companies with high R &D spend, small cap stocks with improving operating margins, or the S &P 500 minus high debt companies. Chances are there isn't an ETF that fits your exact criteria. But on public, you just type in a prompt and their AI screens thousands of stocks and builds a one of a kind index.

1:00:45Carol Massar:You can even backtest it against the S &P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Go to public.com slash market and earn an uncapped 1 % bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com slash market. And paid for by Public Holdings. Brokered services by Public Investing, member FINRA SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, SEC Registered Advisor. Crypto services by ZeroHash. Sample prompts are for illustrative purposes only, not investment advice. All investing involves risk of loss. See complete disclosures at public.com slash disclosures. Being a small business owner isn't just a career.

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1:01:54Carol Massar:See how your business can get stronger and go farther with Chase for Business. Learn more at chase.com slash business. Chase for Business. Make more of what's yours. The Chase mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Member FDIC. Copyright 2026. JPMorgan Chase and Company.

1:02:16Tim Stenovec:Deadlines move, plans change, and sometimes opportunities pop up out of nowhere. When you need branded gear fast, 4imprint is ready to deliver. 4imprint offers hundreds of promotional products in their 24-hour category. Everything from custom apparel, bags, and drinkware to writing tools, trade show staples, and high-tech gear. At 4imprint, they're focused on getting the details right, printing your logo with precision, packing your order with care, and shipping it out fast. and it's backed by their 360 degree guarantee. That's 4imprint's promise your order will show up right on time just the way you planned it.

1:02:52Tim Stenovec:That's what it means to be 4imprint certain. So if you're prepping for a last minute event or jumping on a big opportunity, you don't have to settle or scramble. With 4imprint, fast, reliable service and peace of mind are built right in. Check out their full 24-hour selection at 4imprint.com. 4imprint, 4certain. This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily with Carol Masser and Tim Stenevek on Bloomberg Radio.

1:03:20Carol Massar:A new year and we continue to track how consumers are doing amid economic data that points to some stress for individuals when it comes to buying things or spending on experiences.

1:03:31Tim Stenovec:That's where one guest from this past week comes in. Live events is her company's focus. It's behind Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, Monster Jam, Disney on Ice, Monster Energy AMA Supercross, and the Super Motocross World Championship. Sounds like a lot of fun.

1:03:46Carol Massar:Hey, we're talking about all the stuff that Feld Entertainment does. It is family-owned and operated, and we got up with Juliet Feld Grossman. She is CEO.

1:03:56Tim Stenovec:Let's talk experiences, Carol. You know, I think that we're the greatest show on Earth.

1:04:01Carol Massar:Well, we are. But there's another one.

1:04:04Tim Stenovec:There's another one.

1:04:05Carol Massar:We could share the space.

1:04:06Tim Stenovec:Live events is our next guest's focus. Her company is behind Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, Monster Jam, Disney on Ice, Monster Energy, AMA Supercross, and so much more. We're talking about Feld Entertainment. It's family owned and operated. And Juliet Feld Grossman is with us. She's CEO of Feld Entertainment. She joins us here in the Bloomberg Interactive Brokers Studio. Welcome. How are you?

1:04:28Carol Massar:Great. Thanks for having me on today.

1:04:29Tim Stenovec:So you're actually in New York for a reason because of a big opening at the Barclays Center. The scale of what goes into your productions is just mind-blowing, I think, for a lot of people. We're going to talk about some of those. But first, we want to talk to you about the economy and what you see, because a lot of the experiences are discretionary spending. And this is what we talked to you about last time, and the way that consumers are being more choosy with what they're spending money on. What are you seeing across your portfolio right now?

1:04:56Carol Massar:It's very interesting. We tend to be a bellwether on the economy, as you said, because consumer spending on entertainment is completely discretionary. And as we looked at the end of last year, there was a lot, there was reduced spending on entertainment across the economy. We could see it in other, you know, credit card data that we review, and we saw it as well reflected in our business. And what we do is, you know, we try to drive that urgency because we're in a different market every single week. We also introduce a number of seasonal offerings. So we have a holiday pre-show with Disney on Ice that adds that value for the consumer.

1:05:32Carol Massar:But then as we came into this year and we came out of the holiday spending period where people are buying gifts and they have other travel going on and things that they've got to spend on, we're seeing it's cold in a lot of markets across the U.S. that people want to get out. They want to do stuff with their families, and they're coming to see us. And so business has been very strong this year, and we're excited to be in that place. So up over last year? Yes. Wow, that's interesting. Okay, so tells you, like, what's the average spend? Give us an idea of when, you know, we often talk about going to a baseball game or a football game or a concert.

1:06:10Carol Massar:Like, it's so expensive. But just give us an idea, family of four, they go out. So for our events across the board, and there's a wide spectrum of what you can spend on one of our experiences with VIP upsells and with merchandise and all of the other things. But on average, our experiences are about$40 per person. And for a family of four coming, you can calculate what that is. One of the big changes that we've seen in the past year is there was regulation that went into place last summer around all-in pricing. And that didn't only affect ticketing. It also affected rental cars and hotels as well.

1:06:49Carol Massar:And so for the consumer, it's a very good thing. It's a positive thing that they're seeing the whole price up front, but they're not used to that. And so they are adapting to understanding that what they're seeing on the first page of their ticket purchase process is actually the price that they'll be seeing at the end with taxes.

1:07:08Tim Stenovec:So what about when once they get to that event and the money that they spend at these events? I was looking at Carol. Carol shared with me a picture of her daughter at the circus many years ago. and she was holding this stuffed animal. And I was like, I bet you bought that stuffed animal at the circus.

1:07:25Carol Massar:We did. And lots more.

1:07:28Tim Stenovec:So the spending that happens at these events, that can sometimes, when you add in food, when you add in souvenirs, that can sometimes exceed the ticket price.

1:07:38Carol Massar:Well, we have a wide range of offerings and products. And one thing you should also know is that all of our consumer products that we sell, whether it's at Disney on Ice, Monster Jam, or Ringling are actually custom designed and exclusive to our experience. And we oversee the manufacturing of those. And we also have a product guarantee on them, which many people don't know, and a 24-7 customer service hotline. So we really stand behind the products that we put out there, and we feel they're a high value, even though the expectation often coming to an event is different.

1:08:13Tim Stenovec:Where are those products made?

1:08:14Carol Massar:Many of them are made in China. We also have some products made in India, Vietnam, and in the U.S.

1:08:20Tim Stenovec:So you must have been hit pretty hard with tariffs.

1:08:22Carol Massar:Yes, it has been significant to us in our direct purchasing on consumer products and also in show equipment. And then we see it through the consumer spending where they're getting hit in their own overall spending.

1:08:36Tim Stenovec:So on the part that you sell to consumers, how much of the tariffs did you absorb versus raising prices?

1:08:44Carol Massar:We, one of the things that we really looked at was our product assortment. So the tariffs were not applied like uniformly across all products coming in. So there were certain categories that already had a base tariff that was higher or lower. So we looked at the mix of our assortment to try to optimize for items that had a lower overall tariff impact because we couldn't pass the whole impact onto the consumer. It just didn't make sense in terms of their price sensitivity. Tell us about your role in putting together these shows, whether it's the circus, whether it's Monster Jam. You guys were talking, I think, about the trucks before we got in.

1:09:27Carol Massar:I've got a little grandnephew who is totally into them. But what, like, the logistics of putting this stuff on, But there's labor. There's lots of people involved. There's just a lot of things. So just give us an idea. I mean, these monster jam trucks. They're monster trucks. They're huge. I'm always curious what it takes to build one of these. How long? What it costs? I don't know.

1:09:52Tim Stenovec:Can Carol drive one? That's another question that she has.

1:09:55Carol Massar:Can I? But just tell us a little bit more about your world and what goes on. Sure. Well, monster jam, there are three things that really make a great monster jam experience. and event. And that's the trucks, the tracks, and the drivers. So it's all three elements that have to work together to make it exciting for the guests. And so we look at innovating and developing each of those all together. So we've developed a training program for drivers called Monster Jam University. And that's allowed us to bring in more women into it because we have women and men competing against each other in the same vehicle, same competition with an equal shot to win.

1:10:35Carol Massar:And then we also build all of our own trucks. So we have the world's largest race shop at our studios in Florida. And so we manage nearly 100 trucks there. And we're building the chassis ourselves, welding them together. We're building engines. We're building most of the other components. I think there are only about 35 % of the components in the trucks that you could buy off the shelf. Right. Because they're on such a massive scale. And what we're doing is acrobatics. And so we're also always refining the track design to create great, exciting obstacles to keep pushing the limits. 12 ,000-pound trucks.

1:11:15Carol Massar:Yeah.

1:11:15Tim Stenovec:I mean, look, it's Gravedigger is one of the trucks, Black Pearl, Axe Avenger, Backwards Bob. How much does a truck cost?

1:11:24Carol Massar:to be honest i couldn't tell you i mean these are hundreds of thousands of dollars per truck oh yes yeah and uh you don't want to own one because wait till you see what the damage costs every weekend we have audacious damage because some one of the things that our fans love about monster jam is that we'll go out there and destroy it and just to give you an example it has to be spectacular destruction but a grave digger side of grave digger is still hand painted It takes 40 hours to paint Gravedigger. Wow. And so we have a painter dedicated to painting bodies for Gravedigger. And then every weekend we go out and we shred it.

1:12:04Tim Stenovec:And you do it all again.

1:12:05Carol Massar:And we do it all again.

1:12:06Tim Stenovec:Do those, does the maintenance team travel with the whole crew? And because you have to kind of have a mobile shop too, because you're going from city to city.

1:12:14Carol Massar:Exactly. So we have in our haulers that are specially designed and we build those out at our facility as well, we have a mobile repair shop. So we have two trucks traveling in a hauler on transport tires, and then we have extra equipment and parts along there. And then we also have some depots around the U.S. in different areas where we travel. So during the week, between events, we can go there and we can do more heavy repairs. But, you know, our team, and we call it the thrash, because let's say one of our trucks, Sparkle Smash, goes out during racing and blows a transmission. We'll take Sparkle Smash into the back during the event, and we will repair that, and we will replace that to the best of our ability and change the order then for the second part of the event so we can get out there again and deliver for fans.

1:13:06Carol Massar:Oh, my God. Is that event the most difficult to keep? Like, I'm just kidding. I don't know. I mean, there's the super motocross. Like there's just all these different things. Or they all have individual challenges. Everything we do is complicated, but that's what makes it exciting and unique. And that's where the value is for our consumer, that we do something you can't get anywhere else.

1:13:30Tim Stenovec:The revenue, if you look at top line revenue, you, of course, have ticket sales. You also have what you sell there. But sponsorships, too, a big part of revenue?

1:13:39Carol Massar:We have sponsorships. We also have activation program where we bring, we support certain of our partners with retail programs that go to Walmarts and Target stores. And then we also have, we also have a very big licensing business. And we have media rights business across our sports properties.

1:13:59Tim Stenovec:What are you looking at?

1:14:00Carol Massar:You can audition to perform.

1:14:01Tim Stenovec:In the circus? Let me tell you something. Are you talking about circus or Monster Jam? Because I think the ship sailed for me for both of those.

1:14:08Carol Massar:I don't know. But are you good at ice skating? I know. No. Actually, we just had that conversation this morning.

1:14:16Tim Stenovec:1990s rollerblading. You know, that could have been something.

1:14:19Carol Massar:Labor. Is that a tough one too, though? Like finding all the people to either fix the Monster Jam, you know, cars or finding people. Is that easy or is that crazy? And we just got about 30 seconds. It's never easy to find great people, but it's something that is important to us. And because of that, we have a longevity. a lot of longevity across all of our properties in our company. And we're really proud of that. Don't you think he could be like Dan? I'm interested. I know. I'll start with a ride

1:14:49Tim Stenovec:in one of the trucks. How's that?

1:14:50Carol Massar:Yeah, I don't know.

1:14:51Tim Stenovec:Have you driven one?

1:14:52Carol Massar:No. I leave it to the pros. Okay. You don't want to see me drive.

1:14:57Tim Stenovec:You're the boss. You can do it. You're the boss. You can do anything you want.

1:15:01Carol Massar:But not well. I know what I can do well.

1:15:04Tim Stenovec:That's Juliet Felt Grossman, CEO of Felt Entertainment.

1:15:07Carol Massar:Still to come on Bloomberg Businessweek, a look inside the world's first and only five-star cruise.

1:15:11Tim Stenovec:We've got more on the Can't Miss Vacations, featured in this year's edition of the Forbes Travel Guide 2026 Star Awards.

1:15:17Carol Massar:This is Bloomberg.

1:15:22Carol Massar:Support for the show comes from Public. Lately, it feels like there are two types of investing platforms. Some are traditional brokerages that haven't changed much in decades, and others feel less like investing and more like a game. Public is positioned differently. It's an investing platform for people who are serious about building their wealth. On Public, you can build a portfolio of stocks, options, bonds, crypto without all the bugs or the confetti. Retirement accounts? Yep. High yield cash? Yes again. They even have direct indexing. Public has modern design, powerful tools, and customer support that actually helps.

1:15:57Carol Massar:Go to public.com slash market and earn an uncapped 1 % bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com slash market. Add paid for by Public Holdings. Brokered services by Public Investing, member FINRA SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, SEC Registered Advisor. Crypto services by ZeroHash. All investing involves risk of loss. See complete disclosures at public.com slash disclosures. Small businesses are the pulse of every community. They bring people together, create opportunities, and drive growth. With a widespread presence in communities across the country, Chase for Business supports small business owners at a local level.

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1:17:07Carol Massar:Chase for business. Make more of what's yours. The Chase mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Member FDIC. Copyright 2026. JPMorgan Chase and Company.

1:17:22Tim Stenovec:Deadlines move. Plans change. And sometimes opportunities pop up out of nowhere. When you need branded gear fast, 4imprint is ready to deliver. 4imprint offers hundreds of promotional products in their 24-hour category. Everything from custom apparel, bags, and drinkware to writing tools, trade show staples, and high-tech gear. At 4imprint, they're focused on getting the details right, printing your logo with precision, packing your order with care, and shipping it out fast. And it's backed by their 360-degree guarantee. That's 4imprint's promise your order will show up right on time, just the way you planned it.

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1:18:24Carol Massar:on Bloomberg Radio.

1:18:27Tim Stenovec:Carol, if you missed out on the McDonald's chicken nuggets with caviar, there's always next year's U.S. Open. You weren't there this year.

1:18:32Carol Massar:No, what did they do? $100 cocoduck.

1:18:36Tim Stenovec:Cocoduck? Cocoduck? Chicken caviar nugget. $100. Cocoduck? Yeah. Oh. Chicken caviar? 24-carat gold edition nuggets you could have gotten, too. Oh, jeez. Yeah. It's the U.S. Open.

1:18:49Carol Massar:It is the U.S. Open. Just saying. Hey, speaking of luxury. Yes.

1:18:55Tim Stenovec:That's exactly where we're going right now. The Mandarin Oriental Lago de Como. Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton reserve in Saudi Arabia. Atlas Buckhead, a restaurant in Atlanta, the world's first and only five-star cruise. Just a handful of some of the hotels, restaurants, spas, and experiences that are featured in this year's edition of the Forbes Travel Guide 2026 Star Awards.

1:19:15Carol Massar:Sign me up. Sign me up. Amanda Fraser is president of standards and ratings at the Forbes Travel Guide. She joins us from Atlanta on this Wednesday. Great to have you here with us. Tell us a little bit more about the Forbes Travel Guide. I think there's a lot of guides out there, and I think we're all like, well, wait, how do we distinguish? So tell us about who you guys are and how you rate various areas of the hospitality industry. We're in our 68th year of doing this. And, you know, I think the question I get the most is why do ratings matter? And, you know, who are you going to trust is what we say at the end of the day.

1:19:50Carol Massar:I think there's a continued online proliferation of confusing travel advice out there. So our guide aims to cut through that clutter. And with our 68 list launched today, there are more choices than ever before. Just over 2 ,400, actually.

1:20:08Tim Stenovec:So we were looking into how you become one of the inspectors to travel around the world.

1:20:14Carol Massar:Because it's just what we want to do our next career.

1:20:16Tim Stenovec:It doesn't sound like a bad gig, like traveling to remote places and staying at luxury resorts and being undercover. People often have questions about lists like this and how they come about. Are the hotels and resorts paying to be in them? But no, you guys are paying to actually rate them. How does that work?

1:20:35Carol Massar:You know, thank you for asking that question. And it isn't all caviar and, you know, lying on fluffy beds all the time, for sure. We pride ourselves in the integrity that we put into our system. So no, it is, you cannot pay to get your rating. We visit every property that's on the list. And at the end of the day, it's about integrity and an ethical way of making sure that we're surfacing the best places to stay. because, you know, we're talking about prices these days in hotels, you're looking at things on our list,$1 ,000 and upwards a night. So the experience has got to be exceptional. And that's what we're there to find out.

1:21:14Carol Massar:I am also curious, Amanda, I mean, when you hit luxury, there's like just certain standards that are given, right? So how do you, you know, when you're dealing with properties that are kind of the cream of the crop, what is it that then you're ranking them on? Because at that point, they're at a certain level to begin with. Exactly. And you know, I think at the end of the day, you can build a beautiful hotel. There's a lot of investment out there right now and some fabulous product. But what we are known for and what we stand by is the service. So 70 % of our algorithm that makes up these awards is based on service.

1:21:48And when we dive even deeper into that, the big thing that everyone's talking about right now is authenticity.

1:21:53Carol Massar:and we know that that's important because people want to feel closer to a brand. They want to understand the brand and identify with it. So the hotels that do that particularly well, that define their brand standards and that deliver that authenticity, they rise to the top in our system. Should we talk about some properties?

1:22:12Tim Stenovec:Yeah, I want to talk about a five-star cruise because that I think is one of the interesting takeaways for this year because it's the world's first and only five-star cruise. What can you tell us about what to expect on a ship such as this, an experience such as this?

1:22:28Carol Massar:I mean, my goodness, it is historical not only for us, but for the cruising industry to have Ilma, the Ritz-Carlton York Collections, first five-star cruise. It's the first hotel brand to take cruising into, you know, mainstream on our list. And, you know, it really is fantastic because they can deliver at such a high level. And because of their ability to have a good, strong staff to passenger ratio, really, they're delivering on that trend that we're seeing, which is about flow travel and multi-generational travel, which just makes it so much easier for people to have a vacation where they really don't have to think.

1:23:08Carol Massar:And we talk about frictionless travel all the time. and that's what we mean because but it's such a big it looks like a big ship and and you know

1:23:14Tim Stenovec:typically you would associate an experience with a smaller ship that seems more personal you know a smaller experience how do they pull that off i mean the the yard collection is a

1:23:25Carol Massar:smaller ship and you know there's other brands like amman and orient express coming out with smaller product this year um at the end of the day it's really about the service and that's what matters and that's what counts and you know this is a brand that's delivering it time and time again Same with Le Voyage, the restaurant, the Daniel Balou restaurant on the celebrity ships, you know, being the first five-star restaurant at sea. These are incredible brands and incredible individuals delivering. Love Daniel Balou. The person and his restaurants, to be quite fair. Where do you want to go next?

1:23:58Carol Massar:No, I think where we want to go next is there's a lot of unspoken destinations that don't necessarily get the coverage sometimes that New York, Chicago, L.A., London, Paris get. So, you know, we're looking at river cruising because that is a really hot, you know, trend right now. And then also destinations like Charleston, South Carolina are making it big on our list this year as well. Yeah, it's not just the reality show. I have a bunch of family that have moved down there to do like semi-retirement. And it's just everybody's moving down there. It's kind of a charming port city. Weather's nice and all that good stuff.

1:24:32Carol Massar:I want to go back to the list here because I like there's a section smaller delivers big. And I have to say, when I go on vacation, I love people, but I like to get away from them. So I like to go where it's quieter.

1:24:44Tim Stenovec:Because you spend your working day with me. I don't take offense to it.

1:24:47Carol Massar:No, I'll travel with you. But I mean, it's just like, I like where it isn't overcrowded. I like some space. I like to breathe. I like to be near an ocean. And that is something, you know, I even used to go and stay in hotels and I wanted like these smaller luxury hotels. That was kind of a fun place to be. But that is certainly something that pops up among your highly rated list. You know, you're absolutely right. There is definitely a shift towards that more intimate build. And we're seeing that actually quite heavily in Macau even this year. So just for example, there's a lot of hotels within hotels, the Paiza Grand, the Capella, which are within these big integrated resorts.

1:25:28Carol Massar:And I think that's really a reflection of the desire to get closer to a brand.

1:25:33Tim Stenovec:So I want to go back to the business model here, because if you're paying to actually go to all of these resorts, have these experiences, you have a staff that does that. You then put this together. That takes a lot of resources. And the ratings are available for free to us. How do you make money? What's the business model?

1:25:53Carol Massar:Yeah, that's a great question. Thank you. So while we do pay for our own rating evaluation system, I think the one thing that's really important that the consumer looks for as well is transparency. So we do, while we are, you know, we are a consumer advocacy group at the end of the day, but we're also advocates for the industry. And, you know, when we are working with the industry, we're offering them transparency if they would like it into the results and for them to understand how they can get better. you know so when they're getting their rating every year I mean ultimately they need to know are they achieving it at the very highest level are they perhaps in danger of losing because we go every year and it's about re-earning and re-establishing your brand every year.

1:26:39Tim Stenovec:So essentially what you're saying is you have this consumer facing business which which offers their results for for free to us as consumers but you have this enterprise side of the business where you give a more granular, detailed breakdown for each individual property, and that's kind of pay to play?

1:26:55Carol Massar:It is not pay to play. No, it is pay for transparency. So the racing is the racing. It all ends independently, and hotels still need to do that work. But at the end of the day, if they want to understand our system, our standards, how they did in our system, that's what the business model is. All right, tell us about Nujima, a Ritz-Carlton reserve. I mean, OMG.

1:27:18Tim Stenovec:Carol, if you have to ask, you can't afford it.

1:27:20Carol Massar:Shush. No, but just, I mean, we talk about getting away from people. That is certainly a place. The picture alone is just kind of off the charts. I mean, that's fabulous. The Red Sea, which I know has more fabulous news coming out, is one of those giga projects that built from the ground up. And that team had a fabulous celebration this morning. They had a Forbes Travel Guide five-star T-shirt made up. And it's really just one of those futuristic resorts that we're just so excited to be able to feature now.

1:27:49Tim Stenovec:Where do you want to go personally after being at the helm of this? What's the place like in terms of trends where we should really have an eye on?

1:27:58Carol Massar:You know, a place that we're looking at very closely is close to my heart, where I'm from, the Cotswolds. Yeah, everybody's talking about the Cotswolds. Talking about the Cotswolds, it's big in the news. We will be making our way there this year. Actually, I think we might have boots on the ground already. So look out for that on our 2027.

1:28:16Tim Stenovec:How do people become inspectors?

1:28:20Carol Massar:Oh, well, if you have to ask. Nice, nice.

1:28:23Tim Stenovec:You get tapped for it, right? It's like a secret society.

1:28:28Carol Massar:A little bit, yeah. They're definitely undercover. You can't find them online. That's the plan. You know, there's a cute little reality show.

1:28:35Tim Stenovec:Oh, sorry. She's being a little evasive with this part.

1:28:38Carol Massar:I got to say the cutthole look adorable.

1:28:39Tim Stenovec:You really do keep that close to the vest, right?

1:28:43Carol Massar:Very close to the vest. Because you know what? But to be truthful, if an evaluator is found out and it's always a great game, then we have to kind of pull them out and start again. Because as I said, it's integrity based. We take that very, very seriously.

1:28:56Tim Stenovec:Yeah. I mean, there are great stories of restaurant reviewers having elaborate disguises. And, you know, you always hear those stories historically about kitchens having pictures of these reviewers in them. But if somebody's found out at one place, can't they just end up going to another place and they're fine?

1:29:12Carol Massar:you you might be able to but you know the the game is very very real and we have to take that very seriously and make sure that that profile isn't shared out or amongst um you know a chatter behind the scenes um one last question it seems like we talk about it a lot the k-shaped economy a lot more wealth creation it seems like there's more and more entries on the higher end hospitality space. Is that fair? Do you see more and more properties coming online to certainly feed into a wealthier public, if you will, that can really go out there and spend? Because it just seems like a lot of wealth creation and then there's services and things to service them.

1:29:54Carol Massar:So I'm just curious, are you seeing more properties come online? Yeah, I mean, the pipeline is so strong. And I think, you know, the great wealth transfer is feeding into that. And we also know that, you know, the younger generation are spending on travel like never before. So I think this is the beginning of a very strong decade for travel and luxury travel.

1:30:15Tim Stenovec:That was Amanda Fraser, president of standards and ratings at Forbes Travel Guide.

1:30:18Carol Massar:And that wraps up the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. Thank you so much for joining us.

1:30:23Tim Stenovec:Be sure to tune into Bloomberg Business Week daily, Monday through Friday, starting at 2 p.m. Wall Street time on Bloomberg TV, Bloomberg Radio and on Sirius XM channel 121.

1:30:31Carol Massar:You can also watch our daily broadcast on YouTube. Just search Bloomberg Podcasts. We're simulcast on Bloomberg Originals, available on Bloomberg.com slash originals, and streaming platforms including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung TV Plus, and more.

1:30:45Tim Stenovec:Find our Bloomberg Business Week podcast at Bloomberg.com, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. The latest edition of the magazine. It's available on newsstands now at Bloomberg.com and always on the Bloomberg Terminal. I'm Tim Stenevek.

1:30:57Carol Massar:And I'm Carol Masser. Have a good and safe weekend, everyone. Do stay with us. Today's top stories and global business headlines are coming up right now.

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